Delhi’s air quality was in the satisfactory category on Monday morning as the maximum temperature was expected to be 32 degrees Celsius and the minimum 25 degrees Celsius.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the hourly air quality index (AQI) was 76 at 7 am. On Sunday, the average 24-hour AQI was 71 in the satisfactory category.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.
Monitoring agency System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research said dust (size > 2.5 micrometres) contributed ~ 60% to PM10. “For the next 3 days...peak wind speed is likely to be ~ 10-15 km/h causing moderate dispersion and AQI is likely to be within ‘satisfactory’ or ‘lower end of moderate’ due to expected light rain spells. Moderate temperature (~ 32-33 deg C) and mixing layer height (~ 1.5 km) maintains moderate ventilation.”
The minimum temperature on Sunday was 25 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal, and the maximum 33 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.